FIRE OF ANATOLIA

We have first met them as “SULTANS of the DANCE” which was also the name of their first performance. In a very short time, they have become very famous and considered as the best modern dance group of Turkey.

Their second and current performance is called as “FIRE of ANATOLIA”. I have had a chance to see it in Aspendos Antic Theatre in Antalya. The perform consists of about 3000 dance figures collected from various parts of Anatolia and is performed by a group of 150 dancers. The group is currently on their Europe tour after which they will come back to Turkey. For more information about the performance and their tour program, I suggest you to check their web site.

Below is the live video I took which can give you an idea:

PYRAMIDS

The last but definitely not least part of our Egypt trip was the Giza Pyramids. I don’t want to start writing hundreds of the theories about how the pyramids were built thousands years ago nor about how amazing and awesome buildings they are... You may find zillions of information on the net about the pyramids. For those who would like to have an easy access I can suggest you to check Wikipedia.

I would only say that if you have a chance this is the place you shouldn’t miss to visit. As one Arab proverb says:

“Man fears time, yet time fears the pyramid”.

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

Visiting Egyptian Museum is one of the musts you have to do when in Cairo. The museum is located in one of the central areas of the city. Even if you want to go there by a cab, it would not cost more than USD 5 from the many hotels. The ticket costs 50 Egyptian Pounds for foreigners (and only 2 pounds for the local people).

The sad news is that it is strictly forbidden to bring any cameras in the museum. There is a checkroom at the entrance where you may leave your cameras and only cameras! I heard that previously cameras were allowed in with some extra fee but this is no longer the case.

The museum is huge and you may see lots of old stuff from all around the Egypt. They are usually about 3500+ years old. Statues of all the ancient kings and important people of their ages, many stone carvings with the ancient language, phaetons, jewelry, weapons, etc… If you are into history you will enjoy your time in the museum and if you are further into details of the each stuff, you may spend a whole day in there!

There is another part in the museum. The mummies!!! It can be considered as a second level since you need to buy an extra ticket in order to enter in this room. The price is 100 Egyptian Pounds for foreigners and 10 pounds for the locals. I suggest you to see this room. It was the most fascinating part of the museum. Real mummies of the ancient kings! Some of them are in bad condition but for some of them, you may still see the teeth, the skin and even the finger nails. To me, it was amazing.

Below are the only pictures you will be able to take in front of the museum:

NILE CRUISE IN CAIRO

Nile Cruise was one of the best activities we’ve done in Cairo so it will be the first one I will write about Egypt. Your Cruise, Nile Maxim, departs from the pier within Zamalek region at about 19:30. Don’t worry if you stuck in chaotic Cairo traffic and cannot make it on time – we couldn’t do it either. There will be small boats ready to take you from the Pier and drop on the Cruise.

The Cruise has a fairly large saloon designed as a luxurious restaurant. The name of the restaurant is “KHULKHAL (meaning leg bracelet) Arabian Restaurant” and the menu is quite various with some traditional Egyptian food, Lebanese food and some other kinds of international food. While you enjoy your drinks and meal on your comfortable chair, there are interesting shows being performed. First a singer sings Arabic songs and than there is this turning guy. :) This guy is really turning around! I guess for more than half an hour, he turns and turns and turns… While turning, he also performs some art with his interesting dress. The fun part – for guys – is the next one, a belly dancer! I guess she performs an Arabic belly dance which is different and a bit slower than the Turkish belly dance.

Your trip on the Nile takes about 2 hours after which you will be coming back to the same point in Zamalek. Zamalek is an island between the two arms of the Nile and is the most modern part of Cairo. After your trip on the Nile – and before going out to have some more drinks – you may enjoy some site seeing in Zamalek region.

SEZEN AKSU CONCERT

Good Day,

As promised earlier, below is the live performance of Sezen Aksu in Bodrum concert.

A Poem From...

Sunk in the water, still survive we could
Darkness was our guide our eyes could see through
Glimmering in the shadows and hiding back in our cave
We have waited for our time when the world has fallen asleep…

Flurry in the people, flurry in the air
We could feel it at once that we were already there
Death in the life form
Darkness in the light
Some has passed it through
Many were already failed…

Our age was begun and the world was changed
It was not expected though, like a dragon jailed
We were on the good side as followers of the light
Luckier than the most but still with some greed
Time has passed so fast, the world preserving the change,
Arrows have pierced our armor
Daggers stabbing hearts…

Too dark our souls were to train for the good
Too soft our hearts were to kill for the mood
As our innocence have slowly… started to fade away,
Dilemma embraced our minds, confusion on our thoughts…

Soldiers of the darkness, followers of the blood,
Disgrace for our people, yet out of their sight
Drowned with the sins, swarmed by wickedness
Dallying with something
That we should never get close…

Blinded our eyes for what may have come through…

CATS

There are cat lovers and there are dog lovers. This is one of the rules in the earth, like day and night or fast and slow. I was a dog lover when I was young however, never had a chance to raise an animal in my childhood due to my mom. She had valid reasons of her own. When I was a baby of one year old, she had a cystectomy due to a cyst on her brain.

The first animal we had at home was a parakeet when I was at the university. We than bought a lady for him. On the following years we had approximately 1000 parakeet born in our apartment!! Most of our neighbors and relatives took baby parakeets from us and this continued until we lost Azgin, the father. We than gave Bezgin, the mom, to a pet shop.

Anyway, coming back to cats…

Despite being a dog lover I had a chance to take a baby cat from a colleague when I was living in Indonesia as an expatriate. It was a female Persian cat, one of the best you can ever have! I would like to give some information and tips about the cats based on my less than 1 year experience with Sapsal, my dear Persian.

Perhaps the most difficult part of having the cat is the first couple of days. Especially if you are directly taking the baby away from the mother it will be afraid and look so unhappy. That is what I had to do with Sapsal. Fortunately this situation does not last too long and your cat adopts the new environments in a short time. Here is Sapsal's first day at home:

Cats, on the contrary of what you may hear from a fanatic dog lover, are not traitors. They are actually noble animals. It is true that their first priority is always themselves but this is what all other animals do, well except dogs! You are not supposed to rule a cat; usually it is the master at home. You need to respect and understand it at all times otherwise you will never win its’ heart. My suggestion is that if your ego is high and if you are not a patient person against the things that you do not like, having a dog would be much suitable for you.


Cats are among the cleanest animals in the world. They can clean most of their body by licking. If they cannot directly reach by their tongues, they lick their paws and then rub the dirty part. For example after having their meal, they lick around their mouth. After cleaning the mouth, they start licking their paws and clean all of their face by them. For me it was always great fun watching Sapsal when doing this:

Cats are not only clean animals for themselves. They also keep their environment very clean. For example, unlike a dog it is extremely easy to train the cat for the correct toilet behavior. Usually all you have to do is to buy “cat sand” and put the baby on the case which you put the sand. Your cat will smell the sand for a while and after the first meal it will be done! :) You should only ensure that there is always enough and clean sand in the case. If you are allowing the cat for outdoors, you may not even need sand. It will naturally meow next to the exit door to go out whenever necessary.

Generally cats don’t like bath and most of them even hate water. Mine had to experience it couple of times due to being too much muddy but I could feel that she hated from me at those times! I have heard that occasionally you may have a cat who loves water.

That’s all – for now – I will tell about the cats. You may now enjoy more pictures of Sapsal:

Yellow one is Sapsal's father and the white one is either her brother or sister:

SEZEN AKSU CONCERT

Back from holiday, back to the real life! First thing I would like to mention about my holiday is a Sezen Aksu concert:

I have never been a Sezen fan for myself. Mostly disliked her, sometimes even irritated by her... Recently though I have started to respect her. Have started to appreciate her talent despite I am still thinking that such a talent should have been used for some much better opus.

For the first time in my life, I have been convinced to go to Sezen concert and witnessed her live performance. My comments are;

She has for sure lost a lot of weight. At least much thinner she was than what I remember from the newspapers. This was very positive!

Both of her dresses (first red and than a white one) were quite beautiful.

Despite my lack of understanding, she had a very good communication with almost all the audience. I have felt so lonely perhaps being the only one who was not admiring her at that moment. It is also something she had confessed that she prefers talking than singing. I was expecting the contrary!!

I am not the one having the best natural sense of music pitch but strongly felt that her voice is not enough anymore. This is, in my opinion, the reason for her talking too much. On one of her speech’s she mentioned that she is willing to stop giving concerts anymore. Sezen, I support this idea!

Anyway, if you are a Sezen Aksu fan, I am sure that you should really go one of her concerts before she stops performing them! If you are not, go find something more interesting. :) Below are some pictures from the concert. Flashbulbs were forbidden so these are the best I could take. I also have some video records which I will hopefully publish when I can upload them to the net.

Sezen in her white dress (second half of the concert).

































And this is the red one:

Vacation and Short Break

My Dear Readers,

I will be on vacation until August 13th and will not be able to publish any posts. You may reach me from my e-mail address (akcivi@gmail.com) however; I will only be able to check it sporadically.

Best Regards,

TURKEY ELECTIONS

General elections of Turkey have been done on 22nd July 2007. The ruling party of Justice and Development Party (AKP/Ak Party) have managed to won 340 of the 550 seats in the parliament. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had 351 seats in the previous parliament. This is despite the fact that AKP managed to increase their votes from 34% in the 2002 election up to 47% on Sunday. Erdogan’s main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) could only get about 21% which was quite disappointing for its supporters. CHP will have 112 seats; however this can be dropped down to 99 seats in case the nominees from Democratic Left Party resign afterwards. CHP and DSP have formed an alliance and decided to join the elections together. The third party in the Turkey’s parliament will be Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) by almost doubling their votes and reaching to 14.3%.

The details of the elections are as follows:

AKP 46.66% with 340 seats,
CHP 20.85% with 112 seats,
MHP 14.29% with 71 seats,
27 seats of individuals.

MOSCOW CLUBS

One of my best friends, Ozgur Guven has been begging to me for some time to publish an article about Moscow. I have never been there so I was resisting him. Finally I told him that if he writes the article, I would publish it on my blog. He wrote something. Well at least he tried. He has been living in Moscow for about three years and this is the best he could do. Sorry but I have to publish what he wrote without changing a dot. Excuse for his English :)

Here we go:

QUOTE

The most sexiest girls are getting close to you in Moscow clubs even if you are not in a fashion tv party.
It will be hard to believe your eyes, when you enter any of those clubs.
While you were thinking to see some in heaven but stop, even you are a sinner , one of them is near
Please be aware of the warning plate at the enterence of the clubs and do not get in before reading them cos some of them are dangerous for people who has heart attacks.
In moscow clubs, with incredible ladies you have the chance, to make a dirty dance.

UNQUOTE

I know it was painful to read and I am sure you will not be willing to read more of this stuff but just in case, Ozgur’s email address is as follows:

oz_guven@yahoo.com
oguven@esmoscow.ru

M.I.S.E.

Maersk International Shipping Education (M.I.S.E.) is one of the best education and management trainee program about maritime industry. The program takes around two years. While you continue to work and on job training in one of the companies of A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, you will also have to attend four modules in Denmark each of them being two weeks. This means you will approximately spend 2 months in Denmark and 22 months in the office. You will have various lessons during the modules such as economics, liner trade, maritime law and logistics. Some group projects will support these courses as well.

The life of a M.I.S.E. trainee is very active with further activities such as a vessel tour on one of the Maersk Line owned vessels, sailing trip, team building (at the end of the fourth module), etc. The company is continuously updating the program in order to improve and the fun part will seem to be always in there.

When a trainee successfully completes the program, he will than have an opportunity to apply for a position in abroad. Most of the graduates choose to expatriate which is usually for two years after which you are normally expected to be back in your home country. If you are interested in learning more about the program, Maersk’s website has some information and online application form. For much detailed information, you should also see the M.I.S.E homepage.

World’s Most Respected Companies

On 21st May 2007, Forbes Magazine announced world’s most respected companies in 2007. Two Danish companies found place in the top five of the list, Lego ranking number one and A.P. Moller – Maersk on number five. We have previously published world’s biggest container vessel on our blog which belongs to A.P. Moller – Maersk Group.

Other companies in top five are Ikea (Sweden), Barilla (Italy) and Mercadona, S.A. (Spain). You may find the complete list of top 200 companies, their details and industries in Forbes Magazine’s web site.

The Largest Star

Space… I am sure everybody has at least once thought in their lives whether it has an end or not. Probably it is the biggest thing mankind will ever witness. It is amazing that we are only able to observe a very limited part of it. As the investigation continues, there are new planets, giant and dwarf stars, moons and other objects are discovered day by day. Some of these new discovered stars (especially the red giants) are extremely big, having diameters comparable with the distance between earth and Sun! VV Cephei is just one of them.

VV Cephei is an eclipsing binary star system consisting of a red supergiant (Cephei A) and a blue star (Cephei B). The supergiant has the longest diameter that is ever measured. The system is located in the constellation Cephesus and is about 3000 light years away from Earth. The supergiant’s diameter is approximately 2600 times the Sun’s diameter and the mass is estimated more than 100 solar masses.

VV Cephei A will remain as the largest star of all times until astrologers will discover the next biggest. Probably no one could imagine a size of this about 25 years ago and perhaps we are not able to imagine what will be discovered in the next 25 years. Following video is an excellent one in order to make some volume comparison:

MINE RESISTANT AMBUSH PROTECTED VEHICLES

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are armored fighting vehicles designed against Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks and ambushes. The US Navy is planning to replace their HMMWW fleet (used in Iraq and Afghanistan) with these expensive toys. The initial project is estimated to cost over 2 billion USD.

These vehicles will be produced by 9 different vendors in U.S. There are different types but the final designs have not yet been confirmed. The vehicles are extremely expensive (approximately USD 1 million per unit) and have the very latest advanced technology to be used in them.

When the whole project is finished it is estimated that there will be more than 10,000 MRAP vehicles being used in US Army. Wonder what will be the new project by then?

THE LARGEST CONTAINER VESSELS IN THE WORLD

On September 01, 2006, Maersk Line has launched the largest container vessel in the world, namely M/S EMMA MAERSK (EMMA MÆRSK in Danish) which was the first of PS-Class vessels.


The vessel was named in a ceremony on August 12, 2006. She has sailed on her maiden voyage on 8 September, 2006 from Aarhus, following the route as Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Algeciras, the Suez Canal, Singapore, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Tanjung Pelapas, the Sues Canal, Felixstowe, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Gothenburg and back to Aarhus, arriving on November 11, 2006.


Emma Maersk is one of the most environmentally friendly container vessels ever built. Her hull is covered by silicone paint below the waterline, reducing the water resistance and having a less fuel usage of up to 1,200 tonnes per year. The vessel is built to set new standards for maritime safety and environment. Thanks to the high level of automation and high tech computer systems, this giant can be operated by only 13 crew members!


Below are some facts about EMMA MAERSK:


Size: 170,974 Grt, 55,390 Nt and deadweight of 156,900 Dwt
LOA: 397 meters, Beam: 56.4 meters, Hull Depth: 30.2 meters, Draft: 15.5 meters
Capacity: 11,000 TEU as per weight 14 tonnes per container and up to 13,500 TEU
Reefer Capacity: 1,000 FFE
Engine: Wartsila-Sulzer 14RTFLEX96-C capable of 110,000 horsepower
Speed: 25.5 knots
IMO No. 9321483
Flag: Denmark
Built in Odense Steelshipyard Lindo A/S – Denmark

Below are the pictures of Emma under operation:

MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Middle East Technical University (METU) is established in Ankara in 1956. The campus is located about 20 kilometers from the Centrum area and bordering with Eskisehir Road, Balgat and Bilkent University. The area is about 4500 hectares, 3043 of which is forest and Lake Eymir. Students may enjoy several activities like fishing and picnicking around the lake.

METU is one of the biggest and most successful universities in Turkey. It has more than 20.000 students enrolled in different programs including approximately 1000 special or exchange students from foreign countries.

I have heard students who do not go out of the campus for the whole semester which is about 3 – 4 months. As you can imagine, the campus has lots of facilities such as dormitories, shopping center, restaurants, canteens and stadiums.

Should you be interested in further information about METU, you may follow the link. Enjoy it!

TAMAN SAFARI INDONESIA

Birds?

Wild cats? Big or small…

Elephants?

Deers?

Perhaps zebras?

The Safari Park, called as Taman Safari, in Jakarta is by far the best one in Far East. You will only be able to enter the park by a car or jeep (if not in a bus tour). Before entering however, don’t forget to buy lots of bananas and carrots – both very cheap and even cheaper by some bargaining. There will be many small shops and local groceries selling them on way. The entrance fee is about USD 6 per foreign adult person plus about USD 1.5 for your vehicle.

At the beginning, you will only have to drive your way following the only road. You will see many different kinds of animals and almost all of them will be very interested in your fruits. Tip: Don’t forget to feed them except tigers and lions! Second tip: Do not only feed the animals, those small bananas will be the yummiest you have ever eaten.

After about 30 to 45 minutes drive, you will finish your tour and come to the area where the park has lots of facilities. There are play grounds, train tours for children, horse riding, animal shows, food center and much more. Taking close pictures with wild cats is a must to do. The fee is only about 20-25 cents per animal. You will also be able to buy lots of Taman Safari stuff such as t-shorts, mugs, toys, key holders, etc.

If you are a having a holiday in Bali, keep in mind that there is another park in Surabaya (east of Java Island) but is smaller and not as good as the one in Jakarta.

Below, you may find some pictures about one of our many tours to the park and if you still need more information, please click here.

BATTLETECH and MECHWARRIORS

The below words from the Demo of PC Game Mechwarrior III explains it all. What can I say more?

It is the 31st century and mankind is once again at war...The battlefields of the future are dominated by huge robotic war machines known as Battlemechs.

Piloting these awesome weapons of war are men and women, the elite of the elite, knowing that each battle could be their last.

They are MECHWARRIORS!

Cool Blog

Anyone interested in a cool blog from Istanbul?

Check out Meeting Continents and enjoy it!!

SOLI – POMPEIPOLIS

With more than 3000 years age, ancient port city Soli/Pompeipolis is located to the west of Kilikia Peias and 11 kms distance to Mersin. There is not much information about the early age of the city. There are weapons and stamps that were found in Soli. They belong to Middle Bronze Age and are now being exhibited in Berlin Staatlichen museum.

F1 in ISTANBUL

On 27th August 2006, we had the F1 event in Istanbul for the second time. The weather was hot and humid but it couldn’t prevent thousands of people coming from different countries to watch this greatest race in the world. Most travelers preferred to stay a bit longer to see the race plus famous historical sites of the city of Istanbul.

What can one say? See you in 2007!!!

Borobodur

Borobodur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world located in the central part of Indonesia’s Java Island. The temple is about an hour drive from Yogyakarta (known as Yogya as short) or 3-4 hours drive from Semarang, the capital city of central Java.

The temple is known as one of the greatest monuments in the world. It was built around the beginning of 8th century A.D. The structure is in the shape of a lotus, the sacred flower of Buddha.

After a volcanic eruption in 9th century, the whole temple was covered with ash and lava for centuries. In the beginning of 19th century, the temple was rediscovered after a hard work of several months by clearing away hundreds tons of volcanic ash.

Seeing this awesome monument was one of the most exciting experiences of my life and can advise it for everyone who has the chance.

You will for sure draw high attention from the local people during your visit of the temple.












The view of the surrounding mountains from Borobodur temple.

Chinese New Year

There are 12 animals in Chinese calendar which represent the names of the years. They are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit (Hare), Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep (Goat), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar (Pig).

According to Chinese calendar, 2006 is the Year of the Dog and 2007 will be the Year of the Boar.

Chinese New Year starts with the new moon on the first day of the New Year and is approaching! February 18, 2007 will be the first day of the coming Year of the Boar.

Once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR and ALL THE BEST in 2007!